As a result of the martial law, the protagonist’s father, a doctor, with his eldest daughter acting as midwife, helped the mother give birth at home to their fourth child, the narrator of the story that unfolds in the subsequent pages. This is also the day when martial law was imposed in Taiwan, in response to rioting caused by a widow who was selling cigarettes in the black market. The story begins on February 28, 1947, when the unnamed protagonist of the novel was born. “Green Island” is virtually a microcosm of the experiences that the Taiwanese went through, from the days immediately after the Second World War through the 1970s when mainland China was formally recognised as a US ally, thus unseating the island from the international community, to the early part of the 21st century, once democracy is established and the country faces the SARS epidemic. A masterly work combining fact and fiction, “Green Island” traces the history of the island of Taiwan from 1947 to the early 21st century, through the travails of a single family, the Tsais. How far are you willing to go for someone you love? This is the central theme of the novel “Green Island” by Shawna Yang Ryan, the Taiwanese-American novelist’s second work. By Shawna Yang Ryan, Knopf, 400 pages, $27
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